Survey: Some senators admit tax errors

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SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D-Calif.)

Have you or the IRS ever discovered an error on a tax return you’ve filed? Yes.

Have you ever paid back taxes? No.

If the answer to either 3 or 4 is yes, please explain.

Senator Boxer and her CPA found an inadvertent omission on her 2005 taxes and immediately filed an amendment the following week (4/18/2006) and she paid taxes in the amount of $6,053 to the federal government and $2,296 to the state of California.

NOTE: A spokeswoman for Boxer said that the answers are based upon the senator's returns from the previous five years, which is what she had available. The spokeswoman also said that she did not believe that voluntarily amending forms and submitting payment the week after tax day constituted having paid back taxes.

SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-Ohio)

Do you prepare your own taxes? No.

If not, who does? Tony Keys, the senator’s accountant in Elyria, Ohio.

Have you or the IRS ever discovered an error on a tax return you’ve filed? No.

Have you ever paid back taxes? Yes.

If the answer to either 3 or 4 is yes, please explain.

In 2006, the senator’s District of Columbia property tax bill went to the wrong residence in Ohio (he had recently moved after getting married). Once the delay in paying the property tax bill was discovered, the senator promptly paid both the tax and the penalty owed to the District of Columbia.

SEN. SAM BROWNBACK (R-Kan.)

Do you prepare your own taxes? No.

If not, who does? Accounting firm in Kansas.

Have you or the IRS ever discovered an error on a tax return you’ve filed? Pending.

SEN. RICHARD BURR (R-N.C.)

Have you or the IRS ever discovered an error on a tax return you’ve filed? Declined to answer.

Have you ever paid back taxes? Declined to answer.

If the answer to either 3 or 4 is yes, please explain.

Declined to answer.

NOTE: Regarding the other questions, Burr's office said, "We're going to refer you to the Senator's financial disclosure forms which are on file with the Senate."

SEN. ROLAND W. BURRIS (D-Ill.)

Do you prepare your own taxes? Has not responded.

If not, who does? Has not responded.

Have you or the IRS ever discovered an error on a tax return you’ve filed? Has not responded.

Have you ever paid back taxes? Has not responded.

If the answer to either 3 or 4 is yes, please explain.

Has not responded.

SEN. ROBERT C. BYRD (D-W.Va.)

Do you prepare your own taxes? No.

If not, who does? CPA firm.

Have you or the IRS ever discovered an error on a tax return you’ve filed? No.

Have you ever paid back taxes? No.

If the answer to either 3 or 4 is yes, please explain.

N/A.

SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D-Wash.)

Do you prepare your own taxes? No.

If not, who does? The Senator uses a CPA in Washington state.

Have you or the IRS ever discovered an error on a tax return you’ve filed? No.

Have you ever paid back taxes? Yes.

If the answer to either 3 or 4 is yes, please explain.

There have been no errors on filed federal returns (there is no WA state income tax), but in 1992 the senator discovered an error on Washington state business and occupation taxes. She paid $299.53 in back business licensing taxes and fees and $59.90 as a late penalty, related to her 1989 filing of Washington state business and occupation taxes and fees. She paid in full as soon as the error was discovered.

SEN. BENJAMIN L. CARDIN (D-Md.)

Do you prepare your own taxes? No.

If not, who does? Accountant.

Have you or the IRS ever discovered an error on a tax return you’ve filed? No.

SEN. TOM CARPER (D-Del.)

Have you or the IRS ever discovered an error on a tax return you’ve filed? Not that I can recall.

Have you ever paid back taxes? Not that I can recall.

If the answer to either 3 or 4 is yes, please explain.

N/A.

SEN. ROBERT P. CASEY JR. (D-Pa.)

Do you prepare your own taxes? Has not responded.

If not, who does? Has not responded.

Have you or the IRS ever discovered an error on a tax return you’ve filed? Has not responded.

Have you ever paid back taxes? Has not responded.

If the answer to either 3 or 4 is yes, please explain.

Has not responded.

SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R-Ga.)

Do you prepare your own taxes? No.

If not, who does? A certified public accountant.

Have you or the IRS ever discovered an error on a tax return you’ve filed? No.

Have you ever paid back taxes? No.

If the answer to either 3 or 4 is yes, please explain.

N/A.

SEN. TOM COBURN (R-Okla.)

Do you prepare your own taxes? No.

If not, who does? He has an accountant.

Have you or the IRS ever discovered an error on a tax return you’ve filed? See below.

Have you ever paid back taxes? No.

If the answer to either 3 or 4 is yes, please explain.

After Dr. Coburn left the House, the House continued to pay him for three months. Apparently, they were very pleased with his service. However, because the payments were made in error Dr. Coburn returned all of the checks to Treasury. Yet, the House sent a W-2 to the IRS, but not to Coburn, reporting income that had been returned. After a long fight, the House and the IRS admitted their error and the IRS sent Coburn a corrected W-2. This is the government in charge of "stimulating" our economy.

I hope you follow this up with looking up those financial disclosure documents so many of your respondents referred you to. Otherwise, this is an exercise in futility. It tells us remarkably little because it's a poorly designed survey. Try applying a more rigorous methodology next time.

Interesting article, and important rhetorical point. It's a shame Daschle's error turned into something so huge, esp. after all the slimey things the GOP did to bring him down--the Goober Thune replaced him...BARF.

choamnomsky--truly funny--"After Dr. Coburn left the House, the House continued to pay him for three months. Apparently, they were very pleased with his service. However, because the payments were made in error Dr. Coburn returned all of the checks to Treasury. Yet, the House sent a W-2 to the IRS, but not to Coburn, reporting income that had been returned. After a long fight, the House and the IRS admitted their error and the IRS sent Coburn a corrected W-2. This is the government in charge of "stimulating" our economy."--on the other hand the Bush tax cuts never trickled down...

they can't prepare their own tax returns and they want to spend ours? Is something wrong with this picture?The Declaration of Independence has something in it about overthrowing a government...hmmm have to look that one up. Everything is getting worse by the day! I have been writing senators other than mine and they don't seem to be in panic mode to stop this idiot and his scallywag friends.

The hypocrites in Washington are shameless. That is why Obama did not withdraw Geithner. We just found out during the campaign that the McCains owed some back property taxes. Now we are finding out that most of these folks probably have a skeleton or two in their closets regarding personal taxes. That is why we as a country have to come out of this mentality that insignificant personal shortcomings matter more than competence and track records effectiveness. If taxes were the only problem, I bet Dashle would still be in the mix too. Unfortunately there was more drama to follow the tax problem, which would have presented conflict of interest issues. Good job Politico of exposing these clowns.

And how many of you folks at Politico have ever had problems with unpaid taxes? In the vast majority of cases this is a trumped-up non-issue that robs our country of talented people willing to serve. Just about any one of them could earn tons more in the private sector. Then you wonder why the country is failing. I submit that one of the main reasons is the lamentable quality of the media, ever ready to bury reflection on anything substantive beneath a mound of trivia. Politico is a prime example.

This points more to how insanely complex our tax codes are. Some years ago one of the financial magazines..I believe it was Money, created an imaginary family with 2 incomes, some investments and a few special circumstances and gave all the tax information to 20 different preparers from CPAs to commerical preparers. They got back 20 different versions of a correct return. No 2 prepares came up with the same tax liability and no preparer matched what the IRS said was a correct return for this imaginary family.

The biggest favor the politicians could do for us is to someday cut through all the bull and create a fair and simple tax code.

POLITICO-Some Senate offices took issue with the line of questioning, saying it was either unfair or an invasion of privacy. Aides to one senator told Politico that they considered the survey “presumptuous and intrusive.” Some Senate press secretaries encouraged others not to respond to the survey.

Bravo Politico for being so "presumptuous" as to objectively take one very important measure of our Senators' respect for the laws that bind us as a country. Assuming politicians are all too eager to release good news, it appears that far too many are just as willing to ignore tax law as regulatory enforcement. Antiquated regulation is a shallow excuse when existing laws were subverted by weak-willed parasites, or undermined by unprincipled ideologues. INS enforcement went unfunded, SEC prosecution shrank even as markets burgeoned, and $billions in taxes were evaded on Wall Street, all with a wink & nod from Congress.

Last June, John McCain was outed by Newsweek for 4 years of outstanding taxes on a beach home in San Diego. I wonder why that didn't make the list. Was he answering the question as an honest person or as a strict sentence constructionist? Please follow this up. Hilda Solis is being humiliated by Republicans because of her auto mechanic husband's tax liens. Anybody who runs a small business should know how common they are. Todd and Sarah Palin had a car wash that failed to pay state fees and Sarah Palin will have to pay back taxes on her per diems. Let's see the transparency cut fairly on this. Did the Palins pay fully for the construction of their home in Wasilla? It just happened to be constructed by the same firm that built the ice rink and the builders can't remember how they billed for materials after all these years.

The majority of the members of Congress are there for one reason and that is to increase their wealth by any means possible. It should be obvious they aren't too concerned about tax errors. The interest and welfare of the public they should be representing falls to the end of their agenda and will remain there until the public wakes up and votes them out of office. http://mycommentspage.blogspot...

In my view, the issue with the President's appointments has never been whether they made a mistake on a tax return, or even a whole bunch of them. It's that they only bothered to clear it up and pay their debt in anticipation of being appointed to a politically powerful position. (Ditto for Mr. McCain, who only managed to get wise to four years of property taxes in the middle of his Presidential campaign, and for Ms. Palin, who no doubt failed to declare her "per diem" for living at home as income, since it wasn't eligible under Federal regs to be excluded as a true per diem.)

Geithner, who filed taxes the same way for several years, was TOLD it was wrong for two of those years and paid up for the ones he was caught on, but never bothered to correct the other years. It might have been a mistake at first--but after you're told you owe the tax, to not amend the other returns and pay up until you're being appointed Sec. Treasury is no mistake--it's fraud.

Of course, given that he's to be in charge of regulating much of the financial industry and everyone knows that old phrase, "To catch a thief, you've got to think like a thief." Maybe he's the perfect guy for the job. He should do seminars at the IRS on how to catch people like him cheating on their taxes.

And, if you don't catch at least a handful of Members of Congress who are quickly writing checks right about now, you ain't looking hard enough. The only problem with this inquiry is it's being gleefully exploited by partisans, instead of seen as a non-partisan sign that our leaders in government and industry have for a long time been mostly the folks who are best at "getting over" and all of us sit around with our heads in a moist dark place, blaming the "other" party!

By my quick count, 27 Dems, 26 Repubs, and 2 Independents, including most of the mouthiest ones from both parties, and several who have been squealing loudest about President Obama's appointments, don't think they need to be bothered to take the couple of minutes to answer these simple questions for their constituencies. We each need to look up those financial disclosures---ALL OF THEM.

As long as the country is swirling round the bowl, we might as well scrub it out on the way.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-Ariz.) Do you prepare your own taxes? No. If not, who does? The McCain family accountant. Have you or the IRS ever discovered an error on a tax return you’ve filed? No. Have you ever paid back taxes? No. If the answer to either 3 or 4 is yes, please explain. N/A.

John McCain obviously lied. Can any American believe that the IRS never chased McCain for the 4 years of unpaid property taxes on his San Deigo condominium? Didn't the McCains settle their back-taxes on this property after July 1, 2008 after being exposed during McCain's presidential campaigning? It would seem rather weird to imagine that McCain had received special treatment from IRS for 4 years!!!